Wednesday, April 19, 2017

"People of Reddit who wake up every day and enjoy life, what's that like?"

Feels great.
In July 2016 I was diagnosed with stage IV colorectal cancer. My oncologist gave me two or three years to live. Having an expiration date makes you appreciate every single day.

I was unemployed and very depressed for about half a year and now I've had a job for about a month and a half, and I genuinely enjoy it. I'm happy every day to have somewhere to go.

Feels good. Get 8 hours of sleep, eat well, get some exercise, the basic stuff that everyone says will help... actually does.

its a question of contentment (baring depression or other ailments.) learn to accept what you cant change and enjoy what you have, and life gets a fuck ton more sunny

Feels good man. Four years ago next month I stood on top a parking garage fighting the urge to jump off. Today I woke up and didn't fight the urge to get out of bed, just like I haven't every morning for the past two years. It wasn't easy to fight out of the hole, but it feels amazing to know that I did.

Like many people under the last administration, I was unemployed for awhile. But I did get a better job and am very happy for it. Still, I count myself lucky, as many former colleagues were not so fortunate.

ric, As you know, I have made my living because we all..ALL have a dark side. But, your experience is still the norm. Most people are basically honest. However, the social contract is slowly eroding and in our children's or grandkids lives, it may not be the norm.

Allen, I grew up on the east coast and loved the sunrises over the Atlantic. I'm now on the west coast and can watch the sunset over the Pacific from my rooftop. Being a morning person, I guess I prefer sunrise. But, seeing a green flash sunset is pretty darn nice. Sunsets get more viewers. Many people will stop what they're doing and walk up to the beach to watch the sunset. I don't feel the need to choose. I like them both. I like Coke and Pepsi. I like cats and dogs. I like the Yankees and Red Sox. The list goes on.

Seriously, who gets up every day and enjoys life? I mean, other than the awesome cancer guy with the great attitude. That attitude alone will probably burn the cancer right out of him. I like the person who decided to stop being depressed. That was me back in my late teens. At a certain point my sophomore year in college I just told myself to snap the fuck out of it and stop being wretched all the time and it worked. (Not saying that would work for everyone but it did work for me. Also, I stopped taking my professors seriously. That was helpful. What a bunch of downers they were.) But I don't get up EVERY DAY and enjoy life. I have a JOB. And RELATIVES. Jeez. How can you enjoy life if you don't have any bad times to compare the good times to? How do you know you're enjoying life if it's the same thing all the time?

This is a good thread. Amartel, I agree. I'm not a Zig Ziglar. But, having seen so much suffering and death professionally, when I'm having a real bad pain day, relative issues, etc., I can just think of others much worse off and it does help me not have a pity party.

Being kept alive by a heart-lung machine changed my life. I lost the ability to get depressed after that, so yeah, I am thankful for every single day. What a gift we have been given, to be alive, walk the earth, feel the sunshine on our skin - heck, the other day we got some rain for the first time in way too long and I walked around in the rain.

Yep, I am that guy. The guy who doesn't know to come in out of the rain. And I like it.

Sixty, I know it's not the same thing. But I am laughing thinking of the Dude and Walter visiting the house of Larry Sellers and seeing his father, a writer for the hit series, Branded, in an iron lung. And, I know you could laugh at that as well.